


Hide and Seek

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen, serial killer au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 18:34:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Joel finally cracks, they don't know how long this game will last until they're all pushing daisies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abnormal

**Author's Note:**

> Explicit mentions of gore and blood and death and nasty stuff. Not sex so sorry if the rating it misleading. 
> 
> So this was inspired by this (http://michaelcaboose.tumblr.com/post/45651664837)  
> and this (http://cortanas.tumblr.com/post/45661640192/rt-serial-killer-au-you-better-run-better-run)
> 
> I just decided to write it. I've only written this so far but hopefully I'll upload more later?  
> This is also the first piece thing I've written in this fandom I'm sorry and I havent written in so long but just out the above links and read this and review it or something how do AO3?
> 
> This chapter just kind of sets the tone. The real drama will start next chapter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Joel finally cracks, they don't know how long this game will last until they're all pushing daisies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit mentions of gore and blood and death and nasty stuff. Not sex so sorry if the rating it misleading.
> 
> So this was inspired by this (http://michaelcaboose.tumblr.com/post/45651664837)  
> and this (http://cortanas.tumblr.com/post/45661640192/rt-serial-killer-au-you-better-run-better-run)
> 
> I just decided to write it. I've only written this so far but hopefully I'll upload more later?  
> This is also the first piece thing I've written in this fandom I'm sorry and I havent written in so long but just out the above links and read this and review it or something how do AO3?
> 
> This chapter just kind of sets the tone. The real drama will start next chapter!

It seemed like it was just gonna be another normal day for the RT crew, until halfway through the day Joel stormed out of the Achievement Hunter office, fuming. No one had seen him for at least three hours, and nearly everyone was worried.

The AH boys were the first to know about Joel’s dramatic exit. Michael and Gavin were editing, Geoff was playing a game on the big screen and Ray was tweeting while Joel and Jack were in the latter’s corner of the room, talking in hushed voices. As the voices got more desperate and exasperated, Geoff’s attention began to shift away from his game.

“Joel. No.” He heard Jack whisper, just before Joel suddenly straightened up, muttered “fuck you” towards his friend and slammed the door behind him. Geoff looked around the room, thinking he was the only one who noticed the loud bang and began to get back to work on whatever achievement it was today; yet his mind was still focussed on Joel’s reaction, he began to wander what had caused such a reaction.

They’d been working quietly for about an hour when Geoff’s cell began to ring, causing him to snap out of whatever thoughts he held.

“Geoff?” It was Griffon.

“Uh yeah, hey.” Came his reply, unfocussed as he tried to compose himself.

“You okay?” She was concerned.

“Yeah, totally,” He replied, finally able to comprehend his situation, that exchange between Joel and Jack really threw him. “Joel just kinda had a moment.” He spoke quietly, so as Jack could not hear.

“Is he okay?”

“I think so,” He glanced up at Jack quickly, “he just swore at Jack and stormed out, which hey, isn’t an unnatural occurrence but something seems off, I think something’s wrong.”

“Don’t worry about it, you know what he’s li-”

The line died.

Geoff frowned at his phone for a second. Eyeing it curiously, he placed it back down on his desk and resumed his game, only to be interrupted seconds later when Burnie burst in the door, eyes searching for Michael.

“Hey, the phones just went, think you could take a look at it?”

“Sure thing,” Michael smiled, “lemme just save this, yeah?”

“Thanks Michael.” Burnie left the room, Michael following shortly after. The latter returned quickly after and spoke to Gavin. “Hey, the doors are locked, have you got a spare key?” He asked.

“No, I thought you took them, they’re all gone.” The Brit replied.

Jack turned around, “what do you mean they’re all gone?”

“Well,” Gavin began, “I wanted to go get lunch but the doors were locked, so I went to find the spares but they’re gone.”

“Why the fuck would I take them?” Michael asked as the same time Jack asked, “Where’s your key?”

“I don’t have a key.” Gavin announced to the room, “Michael took it, ‘s why I figured he’d hide the spares from me. I dunno, made sense in my head.”

Ray looked up from his phone to join the conversation, “Ask Joel.” He told him, “He’s got a billion keys right now.”

There was a pause.

“But he asked me for my key earlier. That’s why I need a spare,” explained Michael.

“Do you want me to go ask him for you?” Gavin joked.

Michael scoffed in reply, “what am I, five?” He left the room again, this time in search for Joel, instead stumbling upon his girlfriend at the main entrance, who too was trying to get out of the building. “You okay there?”

Lindsay huffed, “All the doors are locked and I gave Joel my key.”

“That guy’s got a lot of people’s keys,” He muttered to himself. “Wanna help me find him?”

“Hey, I’ll look, you’ve probably got stuff going on that you need to do.” Lindsay offered with a smile. She turned him around to face the Achievement Hunter office and pushed him away with a “bye!” before going on a search for Joel.

Yet after hours of searching and asking, Lindsay could still not find Joel, however she did run into Griffon who told her she thought something was wrong with Joel when Lindsay asked of his whereabouts. She went back upstairs to the cockpit, thinking maybe she missed him, but only found Barbara. “Have you seen Joel?”

“No, sorry!” The Canadian apologised.

“It’s been three hours and I still can’t find him.” Lindsay bit her lip with worry.

Barbara looked at her friend with a smile on her face, “he probably just took a few hours off. Didn’t he and Jack fight about something earlier? He just needs some time, don’t worry about it.” She sympathised, “he’s gonna be okay!”

At her words, the power cut out, leaving them surrounded in darkness. Yells and curses were heard all through the building as unsaved work was lost.


	2. When Shit Hits The Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Dude, you’re crazy.” Geoff whispered loudly. 
> 
> “No, Joel’s the crazy one. I’m not gonna sit around waiting for him to find us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still using these as references (http://cortanas.tumblr.com/tagged/serial%2A) but trying to do my own twist on it.

“Motherfucker!” Michael yell echoed through the main building. “What the shit happened to the lights?”

 

There was a thud and an “oof!” As Gavin stood up and walked into the wall, trying to make his way into the hall. 

 

“You’re so fucking retarded you can’t even use a fucking door.” Michael cursed again.

 

“It is dark Michael!” Gavin said as if that excused his idiocy.

 

“I don’t give a shit if it’s fucking dark!” 

 

Then the lights came on and they heard the scream. 

 

* * *

 

 

Lindsay and Barbara had been arguing when they heard someone in the shadows. “Come out, come out wherever you are!” 

 

Lindsay went to grab Barbara, “We need to get out of here, now.”

 

“Can you calm down? It was just a scream, this place was built by screaming!” The blonde tried to reason. 

 

“This does not feel right, I’m getting Michael and getting out. You should do the same.” Lindsay turned on her heel and came face to face with Joel.

 

“And where do you ladies think you’re going?” He smiled. 

 

Lindsay managed to scream before she blacked out.

* * *

 

Michael’s face blanched. “That was Lindsay.” The others didn’t reply. “I’m gonna go check she’s okay.”

 

As Michael stood up from his desk Gavin let a laugh slip. “It’s probably someone messing about. It’ll be Chris and Miles messing with her or Kara.” 

 

“Yeah, you know what they’re like.” Ray agreed. “She’s probably fine.”

 

“No,” Michael shook his head, “didn’t sound right. I’m gonna go make sure she’s okay.” He ventured out into the lobby to find it deserted. The scream seemed to come from the back, so he went into the warehouse. “Hello?” 

 

“That worked better than I expected.” Joel stated from the center of the room where he stood. Alone. “Didn’t expect you to come so quickly, but I can adapt.” His face broke into a smile as he asked, “Want to join your fiancé?” Michael turned to run, but Joel was to fast for him.

 

Michael fell to the floor as Joel reached out for him, grabbing his foot and pulling him back into the room. “Help! Joel’s fucking lost it! Get out now!” 

 

When Lindsay came to, she was tied in a chair in a similar way to Barbara and Michael who were next to her. They were both passed out and she didn’t know what to do. Screaming would be a bad idea, only alerting Joel so she looked around the room, searching for some kind of weapon, or sharp object to cut the ropes. 

 

Her gaze fell behind Barbara’s chair. Her eyes widened and she did all in her power not to sob. It was Kara and she had a knife lodged into her skull. “Oh my god.” She whispered.

 

They were doomed. 

 

Barbara began to stir in her chair and tried to clutch her head, only to find her arms tied behind her. “Wha-?”

 

“Ssh.” 

 

“Lindsay-”

 

“Shut up.” Lindsay warned. “He’s got us tied up. We need to find a way out of here before he gets us.”

 

“Gets us?” the blonde frowned. Lindsay nodded to the body behind them and Barbara couldn’t stop the scream that came from her mouth. “Joel! Let us go!” She yelled, trying to break free of her ties.

 

The door opened, the light flooding in hurting their eyes. Joel stepped up to Barbara, who spat in his face. “Oh!” He smiled, wiping his face, “Is that how you want to do this?” 

 

His hand came down on her face with a deafening smack.

* * *

 

Matt came out of his office into the bull pen where Gus, Chris, Miles, Monty and Brandon were stood. “What the hell is going on?” He asked the group.

 

Gus moved towards him, “Keep your voice down. We gotta hide. Joel’s lost it.”

 

“Where are we gonna go?” Brandon asked. 

 

They all stood for a moment, thinking. “Podcast room.” Monty whispered. 

 

“Fuck hiding,” Miles said, “we gotta get out of here.”

 

“All the doors are locked.” Gus told him. “There’s no way of getting out of here. Now lets move.” 

 

“Wait a second.” Brandon gulped. “If there in the warehouse, we gotta go one by one. He’s gonna notice a group of people and then we’re _all_ done for.”

 

There was a beat of silence when Matt said, “I’ll go first.” They all nodded at him, silently wishing him luck as he snuck down the stairs. They saw him scurry into the lobby. 

 

Gus turned to them. “I’ll go next.” 

 

One by one they made their way into the podcast room where Jack, Geoff, Ray and Gavin were already hiding. They had been there five minutes with the lights off when Miles stood up from the corner he occupied. “I can’t take this anymore. I’m gonna get something from Gus’s office and bust the door open.” 

 

“Dude, you’re crazy.” Geoff whispered loudly. 

 

“No, Joel’s the crazy one. I’m not gonna sit around waiting for him to find us.” With that, Miles poked his head out of the door and ran across the lobby to Gus’s office. He grabbed the brick used to prop the door open and went to the front door. 

 

Glancing behind himself, he settled the brick into one hand and pulled back to throw. Then he heard footsteps. “Miles!” Joel’s voice sounded cheerful, as if greeting a friend into his home. “Leaving so soon?” Unsure of what to do, Miles just stood there with the brick, a deer caught in headlights. “Why’re you trying to leave, huh?” When Miles didn’t reply, Joel laughed and made his way towards him. “Let’s make you an example then.” Without warning, Joel pulled a gun from behind him and shot Miles in the chest. 

 

Miles fell to the floor as Joel yelled, “This is what happens when you try to escape! So why don’t you just come out now, and we can put this all behind us!” Joel paused for a moment. “No takers? You want to do this the hard way? Or is it you want me to make this more interesting? That it? Y’know what, you’re right.” Joel nodded. “Let’s play a game!” He laughed again, “Let’s play a good old fashioned game, of Hide and Seek.”


	3. Shark Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small voice peeked through the petrified terror to let him know just how fucking typical it was that he was gonna die with soiled jeans. His favourite jeans at that. This day couldn’t get worse.
> 
> A whack to the hood of the truck brought him out of his reverie. It could totally get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was told this was recommended on fuckyeahrtfanfic.tumblr.com and went to check it out cause cool right? But I saw the word "discontinued" and got mad at myself so I'm back and determined to finish this. I can see maybe two more chapters after this? I haven't written much in a while and I don't have a beta so I'm sorry if this is shit. Also Ash I'm sorry there's no Mavin

They were frozen in the conference room, Joel’s words ringing in their minds as a soundtrack to Miles’ meager gurgles and quiet breathing around them.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Joel yelled and his footsteps echoed in the lobby, growing fainter as he walked away. 

Chris let out the air he held in his lungs to ask, “Do you think he’ll find us?” 

“Ask louder,” Gus whispered, “maybe you’ll find out!” 

In the far corner of the room, Gavin and Ray sat huddled together, silent in thought. Ray was not a man easily scared, but he felt ice run through his veins as his stomach turned in fearful anticipation.  

“Where’s Michael?” Gavin asked, lifting his head in realization that his friend wasn’t present. The Brit turned to Ray, “Do you think he’s got him?” 

“I-” Ray didn’t know what to say. He wanted to comfort his friend or make a joke and blow it all off like usual. He wanted to say that Michael’s Mogar, that he wasn’t gonna go down this way. But he knew it was a lie. There was no way Michael would have got out. “I don’t know.” 

Gavin stood. “I need to find him.” He went to walk out of the room, but felt Ray’s hand grab his wrist. 

Ray opened his mouth to protest before closing it again. They held each others gaze for a moment before Ray closed his eyes in acceptance. “I’ll come with you.” 

“Ray don’t-” 

“Hey, I’m not letting you go out there on your own okay. X-Ray and Vav. Yolo... or something.” Ray tried to smile but he knew there was no positive ending to this story. He knew that neither him, Gavin or any of the people in that room were making it out of the building alive. “We’ll get into the warehouse, find Michael and hopefully Joel will be over here by then, we can try ram the truck through the doors if we need to.” 

Gavin’s brows furrowed as he whispered, “We’re gonna get through this, right?”

“Yeah, man.” Ray lied, “Of course.” 

* * *

 

JJ was pretty sure he was about to wet himself. He was all alone, hiding in the truck like some crappy horror movie and Joel was circling him like a shark, whistling a tune JJ couldn’t quite place. It oozed into his ears. He tried to calm his breathing by covering his mouth with his hands, attempting to muffle his deep inhales. It was the Jaws theme he realised however he didn’t notice his bottom lip quiver and his hands shaking as he watched Joel mosey around outside of the truck, casually bringing down a bloodied baseball bat in his palm. 

It happened 

He peed himself. 

A small voice peeked through the petrified terror to let him know just how fucking typical it was that he was gonna die with soiled jeans. His favourite jeans at that. This day couldn’t get worse.

A whack to the hood of the truck brought JJ out of his reverie. It could totally get worse. 

“Peek-a-boo!” Joel’s laugh echoed again. “I see you!” He whacked one of the front doors of the truck again, he couldn’t tell which one as his head span, disorientating JJ’s sense of direction. JJ closed his eyes, wrapping his arm tighter around his knees. He curled further into the corner of the vehicles’ trunk, focussing on the smell of sweat and pine, desperately avoiding any thought of Joel.

“Peak-a-boo!” The taste of metal entered JJ’s mouth. Or was it blood? “I see you!” Blood. He’d chewed his lip raw in trepidation. His eyes closed tighter as the top of the truck was abused with the blunt baseball bat. ‘Oh God,’ JJ thought to himself, ‘I’m gonna get my head bashed in.’

“Peak-a-boo!” It was right behind him. JJ grasped the black leather of the seat in front of him, knuckles white as he turned to the rear window to see Joel’s manic face, grin wide, teeth bared, eyes crazed with delight. Joel’s voice lowered from the excited yelling to a dark, deep, predatory, “I see you.” 

Time seemed to slow as the glass in front of JJ’s face was shattered with the butt of the baseball bat, he scrambled backwards, trying to get away from the man who looked at JJ like he was his next meal. His back hit the seats and he let out a breath. Trying to be brave he looked Joel in the eye, watching as the older man grabbed one of the larger shards of glass. He grabbed with such force, it tore into his calloused hands, but he paid it no mind as he advanced onto his prey. 

He held the glass shard up to JJ. “Now be a good boy, and open the truck.” Neither moved. Joel’s voice was calm and comforting, “Get out of the fucking car now and I wont stab you in the eyes with this.” He held the shard up again, smiling sweetly.

JJ fumbled for the keys in his pocket, flinching at the loud unlocking tone of the car. The trunk door was opened and Joel motioned for him to exit, coaxing him with small words of encouragement. JJ stepped away from the beat-up car once he exited and turned to Joel, still scared about what the next move would be. 

It smelt like antiseptic, but was invaded by musky whisky as Joel stepped closer to JJ, shockingly embracing him tightly. JJ squirmed in the grip, uncomfortable with he older mans actions, but his fidgeting stopped when he felt heat begin to pool in his lower back, his arms became slack and suddenly he fell to the floor, ears blurred and sight deafened.  

“But-” JJ tried to speak but he had too little strength.

Joel loomed over him, showing him multiple shards of glass in his hands. “We’ve got time to kill before you bleed to death.” The older man shrugged like he had just said, “Yeah I’ve got a cat, he’s pretty cool I guess.”

* * *

 

The sound of glass breaking underscored to Joel’s voice in a deep murmur caused Ray to freeze in the corridor. Gavin was behind him as they ventured on their deathly quest to locate Michael. “He’s by the back room door.” Ray told Gavin, barely audible.

“Kitchen.” Gavin mouthed back. The two scuttled to the kitchen (unnoticed by Joel) but didnt get far when the most vile smell hit them like a wave. The two tried to locate the smell, scared of what it’s source was.   

Ray heard a small, “Hey” from Gavin and looked over to see him staring intently at the fridge. The younger joined his friend in front of the fridge and stared too. 

“If we open it,” Ray whispered quietly as he could, “He’ll hear us.” 

“But I wanna know!” Gavin seemed conflicted, but his hand reached out to grasp the handle. 

“Curiosity killed the cat.” 

“We’re dead anyway.” He punctuated his statement by pulling open the door. 

Ray joked all he liked that he grew up in New York, that nothing could scare him. He was prepared for anything, right? He lived in New York! But even that couldn’t prepare him for seeing the head of his best friend in the middle of the work fridge, face frozen in a silent, wide eyed scream. 

And nothing prepared him for what happened next.


End file.
